Jerusalem Travel Forum

Hi - arriving by ship in Ashdod. Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get to Jerusalem? What is the best way to go? Will only have one day in Jerusalem - can anyone recommend a tour guide/company? Thanks.

You can take an Egged bus from Ashdod to Jerusalem. It will be an 1:15-1:30 hours drive. Line number 438 takes 1:30 hours and line number 448 1:15. You can take both from the port junction.

Hi!
The website of Egged (an Israeli bus company): http://www.egged.co.il/Eng/index.asp
Regards Jesper

Hi!
There is approximately 4.5 km from Ashdod Port to the Central Bus Station according to eMap http://www2.emap.co.il/eng_index.asp
Regards Jesper

This is why I wrote that you can take the buses from the port junction.

Thanks for the info. Bregman - can you help me with something else? As I mentioned we are arriving in Ashdod. We want to spend the day touring Jerusalem and going to the Dead Sea. My brother-in-law lives near Tel Aviv and we would like to meet up with him. Should we try and meet in Jerusalem or should he try and get to Ashdod - which would be shorter distance/time for him? Also, he has been to Jerusalem before but it is our first time. I am thinking we should have a guide. Should we try and find someone once we get to Jerusalem or before we get there? And finally.... we are leaving the next day from Haifa. How far is Haifa from Tel Aviv?

It will be certainly faster if your brother-in-law will meet you in Ashdod. Ashdod is about 25-30 minutes drive from Tel-Aviv. It is a little detour. Or, you can take a bus or a train from Ashdod to Tel-Aviv and you can meet there.

It's perfectly doable to go to the old city alone without a guide. It all depends on how much time do you have and how thorough you want your tour to be. I've heard good things about the Zion walikng tours, but I'm not sure if they are still in business. I'll try to find out and answer you later.

Haifa is 100 km (60 miles) north of Tel-Aviv. The best way to go there is by train.

I looked up the details for "Zion Walking Tours". I haven't used them myself, but their name came up a lot of times in the Jerusalem forum and all the comments were positive. Their WEB site is: http://zionwt.dsites1.co.il/HTMLs/Home.aspx. They are located in the entrance to the old city. If you enter the city from Jaffa gate, just go around the citadel, that is take a right turn about 100 meters from the gate. They are located right there, next to the Christ Church building. Their phone number is +972-2-6277588 (or, 02-6277588 from within Israel). Their mobile phone number is: +972-50-5305552 (050-5305552 in Israel).

Hi Gil - thanks for the information. I'll check out the walking tour. I definitely want a thorough tour - especially of Jerusalem. Can you please let me know what you think of my plan? Have my brother-in-law meet us in Ashdod and travel to Jerusalem. Sightsee in Jerusalem, then go to Dead Sea. From there maybe go to Tel Aviv to spend the night in hotel?? Or should we go to Dead Sea and back track to Jerusalem so we won't have so far a trip to the hotel?

Then what to do the next day - Nazareth? What do you recommend? After day 2 meet ship in Haifa. Will it be too far to go from Dead Sea to Tel Aviv? Should we stay in Jerusalem overnight and then head to Nazareth? I so appreciate your help with this. I'm only thinking of staying overnight to save time for us and my brother-in-law traveling back and forth.

Doing Jerusalem and the dead sea in one day is a stretch. You will need a full day in Jerusalem and the dead sea (including Massada) takes at least half a day. The ride from Jerusaelm to the dead sea takes more than an hour. For expert advice on the dead sea area, you can email Martin Sampson (Martin_S.)

The distance from Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv is 60 km (less than 40 miles). So, it doesn't make a huge difference if you sleep in Jerusalem or Tel-Aviv, assuming you go to the north first thing in the morning. Going to Nazareth and certainly to Haifa is faster from Tel-Aviv than it is from Jerusalem.

If you spend the night in Tel Aviv, let us know. We might have a few local VT members meet for coffee.

I can't see doing the Dead Sea and Jerusalem in one day. It just isn't realistic. The amount of traveling between the two means you will spend more time on buses than you do sightseeing. I think you need to just do Jeruslaem ( hard enough in one day) and make plans for a visit --just to Israel.